Amazon Teams with Nite Ize to Sue Alleged Counterfeiters

Amazon has united with Colorado-based Nite Ize in its latest attempt to combat counterfeits on the online platform. In a suit filed June 26, at the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, Nite Ize and Amazon took on defendants from Canada, the US and China.

This specific case involves Nite Ize’s Steelie family of products, a hands-free system that allows you to dock your phone to your dashboard using a magnetic mounting system. The defendants had opened at least 19 seller accounts on Amazon’s online store and, through these accounts, had unlawfully advertised and sold products bearing counterfeit trademarks of Nite Ize, according to the lawsuit.

Back in October 2018, Nite Ize received two notices from US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that the agency had seized an imported shipment at its port of entry in Portland, Oregon. The shipment contained 300 counterfeit Steelie car mount kits and originated from Hong Kong. A Canada-based individual in Canada was listed as the importer. Amazon, after receiving notice from Nite Ize, confirmed the unlawful sale of counterfeit Nite Ize products and blocked the seller accounts.

Of course, as Amazon noted in the claim, “it is not uncommon for sellers of counterfeit products blocked by Amazon to attempt to create new seller identities to obtain access to the Amazon store.

“Therefore, unless defendants and all of their affiliated and/or successor entities are immediately and permanently enjoined from using Amazon’s store to sell goods, the harm defendants caused to Amazon, legitimate third-party manufacturers/sellers like Nite Ize, and consumers is likely to continue.”

According to Clint Todd, chief legal officer at Nite Ize, “We’ve been locked in an ongoing battle with counterfeiters for many years. When CBP notified us of a counterfeit shipment of products it had seized, we weren’t surprised. However, the scope and complexity of the operation we uncovered was staggering.”